


Hunting Monsters

by jacquelee



Series: Half A Moon 2021 [4]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Gen, loosely based on Dragonheart, very loosely though - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 13:14:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29207937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jacquelee/pseuds/jacquelee
Summary: Sara and her band of dragon hunters encounter a dragon who has unexpected protectors.
Series: Half A Moon 2021 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2138847
Kudos: 1
Collections: Half a Moon: 14 Days of Celebrating Women





	Hunting Monsters

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [halfamoon](https://halfamoon.dreamwidth.org) for the Tarot card prompt Strength (inspired at first by the illustration on the card itself, depicting a woman gently holding her hand on the head of a lion but then the fic went in a different direction, so, now it's kind of for the definitions strength, courage, persuasion, influence, compassion).

Sara had hated dragons ever since the first revolution had been thwarted by Mallus joining forces with Damien Dahrk and protecting the castle and its inhabitants. Logically, she knew not all dragons were evil, but she needed a way to make a living anyways and dragon hunting seemed like a valid plan at the time. Mostly, she and the team she had acquired along the way specialized in just scaring the dragons off, not killing them, since that paid the same, as the villages that were pillaged by a dragon didn't care how the dragon left, just that it did. 

Maybe that was a strategy she stuck by because deep inside, there was still the voice of the little girl who had been fascinated by dragons and everything about them. Who had loved hearing about their supposed gentle side, their feelings for honor and loyalty. But when Mallus had declared himself lord of all dragons and had cemented Darhk's rule of terror, she had started seeing dragons very differently. Of course, she knew not all dragons had to agree with Mallus' rule, just as definitely not all humans were fine with Darhk's but fighting them was easier than resorting to other coping mechanisms, like the one her father used, drinking himself to death and becoming the laughing stock of the entire kingdom. 

And anyways, it wasn't like anyone could talk to dragons. The rumors and myths about people who could understand their language and communicate with them were just that, rumors and myths. Or so Sara thought. Until that one fated day when she and her band of misfits were trying to discourage a dragon from hunting all the game in a forest near one of the villages on the outskirts of Darhk's kingdom. 

It wasn't as pressing a need for the villagers to rid themselves of the dragon as it generally was when Sara and the Legends got called, but the absence of more meat for everyone did take a toll on the villagers who were trying to live their lives as best as they could under Darhk's boot. So even when they were offered less reward than they were used to, Sara agreed to the task. 

It had seemed easy enough, put some traps, fight the dragon off and make sure it would know that its presence here would be met with lethal force if it ever dared to come back. Nothing they hadn't dealt with before a hundred times. And at first everything had worked out just as they planned it, the dragon took the bait and landed in the trap. Except, when Sara was about to confront it, it was not alone. 

Two women were there, dismantling the trap and freeing the dragon, who seemed to patiently wait for them to finish. 

"Hey! What the hell are you doing?"

It was probably not the most clever thing to do, cry out like that, but Sara had fought enough dragons to be confident that she could take this one, especially since she knew Mick, Astra and Charlie were already surrounding it from all sides. It was big, sure, about seven times her size in length, but she had fought beasts even bigger. The dragon now reared its head towards her and spat fire in her direction. Jumping out of the way as quickly as possible, she still registered that even in its determination to get her, the dragon seemed to be careful not to move anything other than its head, as to not disturbed its two… what were they, friends? Helpers? 

Sara didn't have time to dwell on this when Mick yelled out from the other side of the dragon, clearly as a diversion and she could see him run towards the dragon, sword at the ready. The dragon reared again, but again, mindful of the two women under it, who were now nearly finished freeing it. Sara didn't have time to warn Mick, who clearly had underestimated how much freedom of movement the dragon already had since most of the trap was already gone. 

A fireball hit him in the side and he fell back with a grunt.

"Mick!" 

Charlie screamed from the other side, running towards her friend, trying to duck the dragon, who was now free and, with what to Sara looked like a side glance to the women, reared up and launched into the air, flying away. Sara also ran towards Mick, yelling to Astra to get Gideon. She didn't check if Astra actually did, too busy trying to ascertain the extent of Mick's injury, but she was certain she would heed her command. At first she might have been reluctant to follow Sara's authority, but not anymore. And not when a team mate's life was at stake. 

When she reached Mick, she was relieved that his injury didn't seem all that bad, just some surface burns, nothing he hadn't dealt with before. Still, she fussed over him, missing the two women coming towards them, only being alerted to that fact when Charlie suddenly jumped up and unsheathed her sword. 

Sara turned around, taking out her own sword and holding it at the ready. But the two strangers didn't seem to want any trouble. One of them was holding up her hands in a clear gesture of surrender, while the other kept her hands to her sides but didn't seem threatening. 

"Is he going to be alright?"

Sara scoffed at that question, asked by the woman who had her hands up, in a way that seemed gentle and caring, something Sara wouldn't expect from those who had aided in causing the injry. 

"Why would you care? You helped that beast escape! We had it trapped. Why would you help a monster like that?"

The other woman stepped forward a little at that, clearly angry. 

"Mithra's not a monster, she's our friend! You are the monsters for trying to harm an innocent creature that didn't do anything to you!"

A little taken aback by that outburst, Sara needed a moment to recover, but then she scoffed again. 

"This is Darhk's kingdom, Mallus' kingdom. Everyone who follows either of them is an enemy in my book, not an innocent."

She knew she was telling them far too much, more than was good for any of them and she could feel Charlie's disapproval, who had put away her sword since there was no apparent danger and was now kneeling by Mick's side again, but she didn't care in that moment. She sheathed her sword again too but she took a few steps towards the woman and now they were standing only a small distance apart. What she had said clearly made the woman even angrier, gesturing now and coming even closer. 

"We fight them! What are you doing, going around, killing innocent creatures that have done nothing to you in the name of what, some misguided sense of justice? If you hate Darhk so much, do something about it!"

"Zari, that's enough."

The other woman was trying to calm her friend down, but Sara barely registered it. She now stepped fully towards the woman, they're faces only centimeters apart. The fury she had felt after the rebellion had failed, after Laurel had nearly died, after she had been left without a home, without a family, alone and hopeless was there again, ready to pounce at the nearest available target, as it always did. 

"Sara!" Charlie's voice cut through the rushing of blood in her head and she turned around to see Charlie very crudely trying to cover Mick's wounds. "We need to get him to Gideon, now."

That was enough to make Sara's anger retreat again and she turned around, completely ignoring the two women now. There was nothing she could say to them anyways.

"Okay, let's go." 

They helped Mick up and with both Charlie and Sara's support he managed to walk a few steps. Her mind completely on the task at hand, Sara had already nearly forgotten about the previous encounter, but a voice from behind her made her stop in her tracks. 

"That's it? You're just gonna leave? Continue doing what you do? You only care about yourself, do you?"

Tempted to turn around, Sara caught a subtle shake of Mick's head and realized that he was right. It wasn't worth it. So she didn't say anything back and they just continued on, towards the cave where they had put up camp last night, hoping that Astra and Gideon would meet them halfway. 

Sara knew it made no sense to dwell on something one angry woman had said. No sense at all. What they were doing might not be all that just or right, but it put food on the table and it allowed them to keep their freedom. That was all that mattered and Sara had no problem with that, no problem at all.

Except that she couldn't shake those words. 

_If you hate Dahrk so much, do something about it._

She had tried before. It hadn't worked. It would never work. There was no sense getting anyone's hopes up. Getting her own hopes up.

This was better. It was enough. 

And if she repeated it often enough, maybe she would even start believing it.


End file.
